The eternal city—mi manchi già. I could spend an eternity there and never tire of it, probably. As long as I could bring a lifetime supply of Reese's peanut butter cups with me. In all honesty, though, Rome is one of the most enchanting places I have ever had the pleasure of visiting, twice. On this particular visit, our time was a perfect blend of new and old, time spent exploring new corners of the city and plenty of time revisiting museums and monuments in time-honored tourist tradition. We also made plenty of time for wandering cobblestoned streets, eating gelato, and ordering all of the pasta.

This post feels a little jumbled and haphazard, but no matter—just consider it a whirlwind tour of this beautiful, dazzling—and a little gritty—city.

Gelato all day, every day—twin-melone cones here. 

On our scooter tour, we visited a park overlooking the city and it was beautiful. The light in Rome has a very nearly magical quality to it.

For reference, the best gelato in Rome can be found at : Old Bridge (pictured), Giolitti, and Frigidarium. You heard it here.

I studied Italian in college (language, culture, literature, history) and Emily studied art history, so naturally our trip had plenty of 'did-you-know?' moments.

An early-morning visit (obviously; to beat the crowds) to the Fontana di Trevi. Below, the cute vicolo where we stayed. It was the perfect location, right between the Piazza Navona and the Tevere (Tiber). I adore the Piazza Navona with its Bernini fountains and traipsing through it multiple times a day was lovely. The video below is a snippet of the dazzling play of lights on water and stone by night.

A few highlights of our Roman Holiday:

• learning some Roman slang from our vespisti—'nnamo,' an elongated nn- prefix, for 'andiamo'. 

• At lunch just prior to this botanical garden visit, our server told me "i tuoi verbi sono perfetti"—my verbs were perfect! We chatted for a few minutes and he asked where I learned to speak Italian. He complimented my perfect grammar and use of the subjunctive, which is THE ULTIMATE COMPLIMENT. I told him I had studied Italian in college and he said he could tell, because I had perfect grammar. I wanted to cry because that was such a kind thing to say and it validated the many years I had spent learning Italian and drilling myself on verb tenses and prepositional phrases and everything else. Also, that my Italian was still in good shape despite then-5 years having passed since I graduated from college was gratifying. I was and am so grateful and learning this language remains one of my best life decisions, to date.

I loved our visit to the Orto Botanico dell'Università di Roma "La Sapienza." I wished we'd had more time to explore all the areas of the grounds, but we had timed tickets at the Villa Borghese, so it was a sacrifice we were willing to make.

I love this enormous variegated octopus agave and the abundant prickly pear cacti.

Also—can we talk about this monstrosity of a monstera?!?! And the enormous cacti pictured to Emily's left? This interior shot gives you a sense of the scale of these plants—the photo below is an exterior shot showing this same greenhouse-vestibule; if you click on the photo to zoom in, you can see how the space is filled by these towering cacti. It was rather impressive. I also loved that the metalwork and framing of the glass panes in all the greenhouses were green; it almost made the glass enclosures seem to fade away amongst the plants filling them.

cacio e pepe—my favorite Roman dish. <3 below: bruschetta e burrata, insalata con finocchio (fennel), and ravioli or another type of filled pasta with fresh basil e formaggio. Not pictured: PIADINE (which we ate on the riverfront)!

Perhaps the next section of photos need no explanation, but nevertheless—some shots from a twilit walk through the city. The first, from Piazza Navona, and others from architectural vignettes along the river, as we zigged-and-zagged back-and-forth across the bridges in our meandering route. The bells ringing at St. Peter's were mesmerizing in the last golden hours of daylight.

Obviously we made a pitstop at the Pantheon. It will never not blow me away with its architectural genius. It is so unassuming from the exterior and inside, it has such a distinctive feel—the coolness of the open air in the shaded cupola. Below, some of my favorite works from the Villa Borghese. Having not been able to secure tickets when I visited Rome in 2011 (as that was a more last-minute trip), visiting the Villa Borghese had been high on my list. It was amazing.

classic Caravaggio. Nothing has ever made me want to eat grapes more than how delicious they look here, rendered with his painterly hand. (The previous photo features another Caravaggio in the lower half).

This mosaic work! The artist is Marcello Provenzale.

Bernini is an absolute master. It was his work that I most looked forward to seeing at the Villa Borghese. He is possibly my favorite sculptor, though rivaled in my esteem by Michelangelo Buonarotti. I have many favorite contemporary/20th Century sculptors, but I consider them as a separate category. I think the contrast between his Davide (pictured above) and that of Michelangelo are fascinating—while they were not contemporaries, their respective styles certainly illustrate interesting elements of Baroque and Renaissance art, respectively. I do love seeing Bernini's David in action, poised in the critical moment before he releases his sling.

The tulipped bouquet pictured here is the work of Jan Brueghel the elder! I don't know that I had ever seen still-lifes of his, let alone floral ones! But given that he is Dutch, the subject matter seems fitting. <3   (the color in this photo is a little off as the gallery was shadowy and brightening and lightening the photo loses some of the lushness and contrast present in the original work)

I love Botticelli and this circular vignette of Mary and baby Jesus captures so many of Botticelli's finest qualities.

On our departure from Rome, we caught an early train to Napoli and passed by the Spanish Steps in the wee hours of the morning. It was stunning by night, with the light reflecting from the cobblestones and completely emptied of crowds. Roma, magari che ci vedieremo presto.

Three years ago when Emily and I planned our dream trip to southern Italy and Greece, I had a stroke of brilliance: the moniker "Sistorini," as it was a sisters trip including a few days in Santorini. The trip was a dream to plan and to live out. The only thing which could have possibly made it better would have been to have Lauren with us.

(see our real-time trip photos here)

Our first stop was Rome—the only place on the itinerary that both of us had previously visited. The rest of the trip continued through a tiny pit (pizza) stop in Napoli, Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Santorini, and Athens (of the rest of that list, only Emily had been to Athens previously on her art history study abroad). In Rome, our priorities were of the artistic and gastronomic varieties: we made reservations in advance for the Villa Borghese (my one regret of my 2011 trip to Rome was that due to the last-minute nature of it, we couldn't get tickets) and the Musei Vaticani. Otherwise, we had our sights set on a joyful discovery of the internet—the Vespa tour company Scooteroma. We had read about it online and after doing some research, they really seemed like the best. Our two-hour tour was in Italian and we both agreed it was one of the best vacation decisions we ever made. As Rome was a return visit for us both, seeing the city on the back of a Vespa really let us enjoy the sights without the crowds, and our knowledgable local guides, Michele e Simone, took us to some beautiful and fascinating places off the beaten path (plus a stop for an afternoon gelato).

Annie, the brains and beauty behind Scooteroma, came with our drivers to meet us; our Airbnb happened to be on the same street where she lives!! She saw the address and was so curious who these new clients were! Annie was darling and we had a fun chat with her about her life in Rome as an American ex-pat.

I loved this view of this street funneling us directly to the Colosseo.

Whipping around corners and through alleyways and up streets on the back of a Vespa was so exhilarating and made for the perfect afternoon. Our ride was punctuated with a few stops at interesting sites and more in-depth discussions of Roman history. It was honestly so perfect.

This post includes a few videos from our scooter ride. Here is the Lizzie McGuire version of our vacation recap.

One of the places our guides took us was to the Pyramid of Cestius, which has a fascinating (and somewhat mysterious) origin story. 

Lol @ this photo-op where we clearly are fully in 'park'. But this drive down a stretch of the original Appian Way was beautiful; lined by stone walls and olive trees, we eventually reached the Arch of Drusus (pictured behind us). Below, cobblestones of the ancient Appian Way are bordered at the top by modern square cobblestones, forming the balance of the paving of the modern street that follows the ancient road.

This photo above is a view into the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, very nearby the Piramide di Caio Cestio. You can see the Appian Way cobblestones here running through the center of the space. Rome continues to hold so many layers of history in conglomerate, a veritable palimpsest of empires rising and falling. (also, do you see the tiny cat in the bright spot of sunlight?)

Michele e Simone took us to another part of the city to highlight this up-and-coming neighborhood. This building above is now home to a modern art museum, but it originally functioned as a slaughterhouse. The frieze reads "Stabilimento di Mattazione" and you can see the festooned cattle skulls—so wild, right?! I love visiting cities with centuries of history, particularly those whose architecture belie such histories. Amsterdam likewise carries stories of its histories in its architecture, with tiled adornments on buildings signifying the industries they were used for. In Kansas City, Missouri, in the early 1900s, different businesses employed specific and unique tiled patterns for their floors, to denote specific types of businesses—an aid to non-English speaking immigrants. These kinds of details are among my favorite things to notice when I am visiting a new place.

This slaughterhouse-cum-museum is located in an area is called Monte Testaccio or monte dei cocci. Just behind us, opposite the viewpoint of the above photo, is a large hill—fully vegetated and grown with greenery and small trees even. Michele e Simone had us look closer, and upon closer look, rather than soil, the hill made up of SHARDS OF BROKEN POTTERY—I kid you not. The wikipedia page I linked above delves more into the probably history/speculation, but it is loosely connected with the nearby had-been-Roman-Empire-olive-oil-co-op. As I said—Rome, a veritable palimpsest of ancient and modern history.

One of the last places we visited was this lovely shaded outcropping overlooking the city. Rome contains and is surrounded by seven 'colline' or hills, which can be seen from various locations in the city. But the views from the hills are likewise incredible (those photos will come in another post).

My darling dear sister. I loved her "Andiamo!" shirt with her tricolore-striped helmet.

high-up on vespa-induced happiness and an afternoon chasing history around every corner. 12 out of 10 would recommend Scooteroma to fulfill all your "Roman Holiday" dreams.